Car underframe



4, 1937. J. D. FENSTERM ET AL 1 CAR UNDERFRAME Filed July 17, 1935 e Sheets-Sheet 1 l INVENTORS uGH/VD f2- ATTORNEYS May 4, 193 7.

J. D. FENSTERMACHER Er AL ,0

GAR UNDERFRAME Filed July 17, 1935 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 I NV ENT 0R3 619MB. EMYTERMACHE/R BY-BQW/l TERfiJUMNE/F,

ATTORNEYS V J. D. FENSTERMACHER ET AL CAR UNDERFRAME 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 17, 1935 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEYS III INVENTORS bu/VD. fZ-NJrERA mcwfi BowArERfiJwn/vE/R May 4, 1937.

J. D. FENSTERMACHER AL Y J. D. FENSTERMACHER ET AL 5 May 4, 1937.

CAR UNDERFRAME Filed July 17, 1935 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS L/OH/VZZ m WM w E A w P. W

May 4, 1937.

J. D. FENSTERMACHER AL CAR UNDERFRAME Filed July 17, 1955 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 II/Ill ATTORNEYS Patented May 4, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CAR UNDERFRAME Application July 17, 1935, Serial No. 31,922

6 Claims.

This invention relates to railway car underframes and more particularly to the relative disposition of certain of the component elements thereof. The invention further consists in the detailed features hereinafter more specifically shown, described and claimed.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof with a side sill member broken away; Fig. 3 may be regarded as a View from either end of Fig. 1 or Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an enlarged side elevation of the left end of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a plan view of the portion of the end frame shown in Fig. 4, Figs. 4 and. 5 being of the same scale; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal section illustrating in detail the junc- Lure between the center sill and the attaching arm of the left end frame, the view being taken approximately on the plane indicated by. the line 6-6 of Fig. '7; Fig. '7 is a central longitudinal section taken on line 1'| of Fig. 1, but with the center sill omitted and being indicated in broken lines in the interest of clearness; Fig. 8 is a sectional elevation on the staggered line 88 of Fig. 6; Fig. 9 is a transverse vertical section taken in the plane in front of the king pin bearing, as indicated by line 9-9 of Fig. 6; Fig. 10 is an enlarged detail section taken approximately at a plane indicated by line Ill-40 of Fig. 1; Fig. 11 is an enlarged detail in horizontal section similar to Fig. 6 taken at a different plane; Fig. 12 is a plan view similar to Fig. l, but illustrating a slightly modified embodiment of the invention; Fig. 13 is a side elevation of Fig. 12 with one of the side sills broken away in the interest of clearness; Fig. 14 is a vertical longitudinal central section of the left end of the frame of Fig. 12; Fig. 15 is an enlarged plan view of the left end of the frame shown in Fig. 12; Fig. 16 is an enlarged detail section taken on line Iii-l6 of Fig. 15.

Heretofore, many thousand frames have been made which employ end frames connected by intermediate sills. But, the old forms have frequently required separate right and left hand castings at each end of the center sill to form a pocket for the draft gear and in the old frames the ends of the center sill have been secured to the end frames close to the center line of the body bolster, which usually coincides with the king pin bearing. Also, in some of the old frames, the body bolster has been in the nature of a. rolled H-section, which on account of the restricted area for attachment to the center sill, has frequently been made to pass through the end of the center sill and the draft castings.

Such old structures are objectionably weak and, when eccentric forces and shocks are applied at the end of the underframe and draft castings, the center line of the bolster becomes the fulcrum point. Because of the termination and securing of the end castings in such close proximity to the fulcrum point, it will be seen that the effectiveness of the shock and force applied at the end of the old underframes is multipled many times in the ratio of the moment arms of such forces. In practice, we have noted that the foregoing conditions contribute greatly to failures of the old underframes. Our improved underframe aims to provide a coordination of component parts of the frame in such a way as to overcome the shortcomings of the prior underframes as above referred to.

Referring first to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 11 inclusive, A and B represent cast end frames, which are substantial duplicates of one another. These frames are connected by a center sill C, preferably in the form of an I-beam or similar rolled structural steel section having a central vertical web 0 and top. and bottom flanges c and o The web of the center sill C coincides with the center line of the frame as a whole and the flanges c and c extend equi-lateral distances from the web and as thus arranged the metal of the center sill is formed symmetrically about the center line of the car frame as a whole. Likewise, the frames A and B are also preferably symmetrical about the longitudinal center line.

One feature of the invention relates to the manner of attaching the center sill to the end frames A and B.

In our improved underframe, the end castings are unitary structures in which all of the component members are integrally or homogeneously united.

We deem it important to provide a long, narrow slot I 0 in each end frame, this slot being formed in what we will term the attaching arms I2. Each of the end castings A and B are substantial duplicates, hence a description of one will suffice for both. Each attaching arm lz extends inwardly for a considerable distance beyond the bolster portion M of the end frame.

Extending forwardly from the bolster 14,

there are a pair of draft sills l6 which merge at their forward end with the striker portion IS. The distance from the transverse center line of the bolster M to the outer extremity of the striker I8 is substantially equal to thedistance P from such: bolster center line to the inner extremity of the attaching arm l2. This provides for a substantial counter-balancing of stresses and serves to prevent any substantial multiplication of any eccentric forces or shock applied at the striking face of the end frame. Moreover, the shocks or forces applied to the striking face and transferred from the underframe end casting to the rolled steel center sill C are applied to such center sill in the zone where the latter is of maximum sectional area, it being noted for example in Fig. '7 that the extreme end of the attaching arm l2 reaches to a point where the center sill is of full depth, it being noted that the center sill decreases in depth to a minimum at a point coincident with its outermost extremity, where it abuts the outer end of the slot l0 formed in the attaching arm (Figs. 6, '7 and 8).

Diagonal braces 20 extend from the outer portion of each draft sill portion l 6 of the end frame to outer portions of the bolster I G, the vertical webs and horizontal flanges of said braces merging into the web and flanges of the bolster portion l4. Similar diagonal braces 22 extend from the point of juncture of the first-named braces With the bolster inwardly and merge with portions of the attaching arm, as shown in detail in Figs. and 6. From these figures, it will be seen that the webs of the braces 22 merge into the upright walls 24-24 which define the slot 10. The transverse width of this slot is extremely narrow and is designedly so constructed in order to make a snug fit with the thin web of the center sill C. The slot I0 is of great length, as will be clear from Fig. 6, and has considerable depth as will be clear from Fig. '7. It is important to have a tight engagement between the slotted part of the attaching arm and the web of the center sill. But, there are difficulties in casting such a long, deep, extremely narrow slot and as far as we are aware no such long, narrow slot comparable to that in our improved end casting has ever before been cast for a railway car underframe structure.

The reason for the difiiculty in such casting is that the core material is of necessity so thin that the intense heat of the metal would have a tendency to burn through and thus the walls would be irregular. We have met this problem by the. provision of pads or bosses 26 whose inner surfaces are adapted to abut the faces of the web of the center sill. This permits the other surfaces of the slot to be slightly farther apart and allows the use of cores of considerably greater thickness than the web to be fitted within the slot. The pads or bosses 26, it will be noted, are all located in zones located adjacent the outer portions of the slot. This is deemed important so as to permit the use of relatively short tools or to permit the access of a thin grinding wheel for the purpose of properly machining or surfacing the faces of the bosses which are to engage the web faces of the center sill. These bosses 26 also provide relatively thicker portions for the reception of the rivets 28 or other holding means which serve to firmly secure the attaching arm of each end frame to the web of the center sill.

The draft sill portions IB of the end castings with their webs and top flanges define a draft gear pocket, such as indicated at 30.. Inwardly extending abutments 32 and 34 are formed integrally with the webs of the draft sill portions and these are adapted to coact with standard forms of draft gear familiar to those skilled in the art. It is apparent from Figs. 5, 6 and 11 that we have made the webs of the draft sills ao'i'dat l6 which constitute the walls of the draft gear pocket, extend in a converging direction toward the king pin bearing 36. We have also provided strengthening ribs 38 radiating outwardly from the king pin bearing so as to adequately reinforce the structure at the point where forces are combined when a blow is transmitted to the frame either by end bumping or by impact of the draft gear.

In the modification of the invention shown in Figs. 12 to inclusive, the construction is somewhat similar to that above. described except that the center sill is of uniform depth from end to end. And to suit this condition, we have modified the inner extremity of the attaching arm by making it of a depth corresponding to the depth of the web of the center sill between the upper and lower flanges thereof. In this modification, it will be noted that the webs of the draft sill portions I6, which define the draft gear pocket are parallel and extend past the king pin bearing and the inner portions [6 of said webs merge into the webs of brace members 22 and in this modification the end of the narrow slot for receiving the center sill is at a point spaced a considerable distance from the king pin bearing 36 Otherwise, the construction shown in the modification is substantially the same as that shown in the other figures.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that our invention provides end castings with attaching arms having elongated narrow slots for engagement with the centrally disposed web of the center sill and that these attaching arms are of substantially the same length, as measured from the center bearing, as the striker or draft arms and that such substantially balanced arms are effective to'minimize or so distribute the effect of eccentric shocks that the likelihood of breakage or failure of the parts is overcome. It is also apparent that the end frames of our invention are provided with elongated slots which are extremely narrow and whose walls have thickened portions or pads near their outer marginal edges adapted to be machined by short tools or thin grinding wheels so as to properly surface them in order to make. a neat, snug fit with the central vertical web of the draft sill.

It is contemplated that various equivalents of the claimed structure may be made without departure from our invention and it is intended that the detailed description and drawings shall be interpreted in an illustrative rather than a limiting sense and that the claims are to be construed as broadly as is consistent with the prior art.

What we claim is:

l. A railway car underframe comprising cast metal one piece end frames each with integral outwardly extending draft arms and integral inwardly extending attaching arms and transversely extending bolster portions, the draft arms and attaching arms being of substantially the same length as measured from the transverse center line of the bolster portion, said attaching arms having elongated narrow slotted seats, and a rolled metal flanged structural member whose extremities abut said frames, said member forming the center sill of the underframe and having a web coincident with the longitudinal center line of the underframe in plan and secured in the slotted seats of said attaching arms each of said end frames including a plurality of pairs of diagonally disposed integral braces joining the outer extremities of the bolster portions with said draft arms and attaching arms.

2. A railway car underframe including unitary end castings each formed solely of one piece and comprising a draft arm, a transverse bolster portion and a longitudinally inwardly extended attaching arm and a hub forming a king pin bearing, each draft'arm having laterally spaced web portions defining a draft gear pocket the inner ends of which converge toward said hub, a plurality of reinforcing ribs radiating from said hub, said attaching arms having centrally disposed slotted seats, and a rolled structural steel center sill having a vertically disposed web secured in the slotted seats of said attaching arms, said end frame including a plurality of pairs of diagonally disposed integral braces joining the outer extremities of the bolster portion with said draft arm and said attaching arm.

3. A railway car underframe including a unitary cast metal end frame having a longitudinally extending draft arm, a longitudinally extending attaching arm and a bolster portion, disposed transversely of and located between said draft and attaching arms said attaching arm including a pair of spaced walls whose inner surfaces define an elongated slot, integral pads formed near the marginal edges of said slot walls so as to be readily accessible for machining and a longitudinally extending sill comprising a flanged structural member having a web portion making a snug fit with said pads and fastening means piercing said web portion and said pads.

4. A railway car underframe comprising unitary cast metal one piece end frames including integrally cast longitudinal draft arms and attaching arms, a bolster portion disposed transversely of and located between said arms, said attaching arm including a pair of spaced vertically disposed walls defining an elongated narrow slot, a center sill having a vertically disposed web seated in said slot, the extremities of said sill being of less depth than the intermediate portion thereof and said attaching arm extend- 45 ing longitudinally to the point of maximum depth of said center sill, each of said one piece end frames having a plurality of pairs of diagonally disposed integral braces joining the outer extremities of the bolster portions with said draft arms and attaching arms.

5. In a railway car underframe, a unitary end frame including the following homogeneously cast elements; longitudinally extending webs and flanges spaced symmetrically from the center line of the underframe viewed in plan forming a draft arm, transversely disposed webs and flanges forming a bolster portion, a pair of longitudinally extending vertically disposed walls spaced symmetrically of said center line defining a central slot and constituting an attaching arm, pads formed near the upper and lower edges of the inner surfaces of said slot walls; and a center sill substantially centered with said center line comprising a rolled structural flanged member whose vertical web snugly engages said pads, and fastening means piercing said web and said pads.

6. In a railway car underframe, a unitary end frame including the following homogeneously cast elements; longitudinally disposed laterally spaced webs and flanges forming a draft arm, transversely disposed webs and flanges forming a bolster portion, a pair of laterally spaced longitudinally extending vertically disposed spaced walls defining a central slot and constituting an attaching arm, pads formed near the upper and lower edges of the inner surfaces of said slot walls; and a center sill whose center line projected in plan would lie midway between said draft arm webs comprising a rolled structural flanged member whose vertical web snugly engages said pads, and fastening means piercing said web and said pads and respective diagonal reinforcing braces extending from the outer portions of the bolster to points, respectively, near the ends of said draft and attaching arms, the said draft arm and attaching arm being of substantially the same length as measured from said bolster portion.

JOHN D. FENSTERMACHER. BOWA'I'ER B. SUMNER. 

